April 21, 2008

Hey, RA Patients Don't Like Lung Cancer Either

Recently Pfizer released a warning that their rather forgettable diabetes drug Exubera is associated with an increased incidence of lung cancer. There trials turned up six cases of lung CA in 4740 patients compared to one of 4292 controls. All the patients were smokers. This news caused a considerable amount of noise in the press, blogs and pharmaceutical industry in general. In contrast, similar findings in the abatacept trials for rheumatoid arthritis seemed to have been brushed aside as noise. In the abatacept trials involving controls there were four cases of lung CA in 1955 abatacept patients and none among controls. There were eight cases of lung CA in all trials combined (2688 pts). Sure they are small numbers in both cases, but it's odd how the news seems to matter more for the diabetes drug.